Rock Valley College grad speaks of triumph over challenges

ROCKFORD — They say 13 is synonymous with bad luck. But for Matthew Martinez, 13 is the number of years it has taken him to collect his associate’s degree from Rock Valley College this week.

He moved from Clinton as a boy, and his grades and good study habits foundered. He was held back for drugs, alcohol and skipping school before dropping out of Harlem High School in Machesney Park.

Martinez, 32, describes those years as reckless. He was young, lacked direction and got caught up in everything but his education.

Wanting some semblance of a future, he earned a GED and then enrolled in studies at Rock Valley College. Life got in the way. He enlisted in the Army for discipline. A sister’s death from pancreatic cancer brought him home from Germany. And then a job with the U.S. Postal Service prevented him, at times, from going to school or limited him to taking just a few courses at a time.

Still, he’d look around the RVC campus and be inspired by the other students. They were continuing school despite challenges such as jobs, car breakdowns, forced overtime and late study nights.

“I don’t want it to be about me,” he said. “I want it to be about everybody. We’re all so different. We all have different obstacles. We’re all kind of the same. We just refuse to give up.”

Martinez will deliver a similar message Friday, when he’ll give a speech at the college’s 48th annual commencement. There are 1,239 students graduating from RVC this spring.

Martinez’s wife of less than a month will be there, too.

Jolen Martinez met Matthew about 10 years ago. She has seen him pursue his degree while working, taking care of his sick mother, and commuting to see her on the weekends in Milwaukee, where she attended Alverno College.

“He is quite the warrior,” the newlywed said, noting, among other compliments, that Matthew delivers mail through all sorts of weather. In the past decade, “he’s grown intellectually.”

“He is my inspiration. I really don’t know how he does it some days. He’s a saint. He never gives up.”

Rock Valley speech instructor Jennifer Zimmerman nominated Martinez to give the commencement speech. He was one of several contenders.

“In class, he’s someone who always led by example,” Zimmerman said. “He was never in your face about it. (He was) very calm, very humble but always led by example in a strong sort of quiet way. When he gave a speech, his words were always cleverly crafted and impressively insightful that we just all wanted to listen.

“Matt is extremely intellectual and insightful, and he always made us think.”

Martinez plans to continue working for the Postal Service while commuting to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb to pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He wants to own a CPA practice one day.